jono

By my calculations it will take me longer to finish this than the time the thing was in service for.....might get it done in time for its centinary

pssssssst Juilen, dont tell anyone, but it is ME from the club !

I have to agree, if you aint seen one, go find one and open the box, it is crammed ! I still cant work out where everything is going to fit on mine, I seem to have started it but cant get passed the "how am I going to display it" thoughts.....and I dont do armour ! go buy one today, I dont think there is any other piece of 1/48th scale armour that can be anywhere near as detailed as that is

Hi Guys Wet and miserable Sunday for all of us probably, so I decided that my two boys (4 1/2 and 2 1/2) and I would take a trip to Flixton Air Museum on the Norfolk/Suffolk border. For those of you that dont know it, it is your typical small museum, a collection of bits and pieces, replica aircraft aswell as a fine collection of real aircraft including an Anson , Canberra, Javelin and lots of other pointy things with firey bits at the back. The highlight for me however, was a chunk of Felixstowe flying boat, a nose section. This, according to the blurb, had been in someones garden for years, looks like they were using it as a garden shed mounted on its end. I have attatched a couple of pictures and although the section is no longer fully authentic, it does give an idea of how these things were built. I would love to have taken more time on it but alas when you have two little voices saying "Look at that big one !, can I go and jump in the puddles again, I need a wee daddy" time is not always available ! cheers, jono

Hi Mike, Sorry to hear of your loss, Hannants show some 1/32nd scale decals with The Red Barons as an option http://www.hannants.co.uk/search/?FULL=EAG32094 or, if you want to scale up to 1/28th , Revell do a triplane with markings included. Hope thats a help jono

Dont think I have ever seen so many Gothas, never tried one so maybe that will be next !, I have used the Kit Lozenge Nico, little choice ! but its been dulled right down

Christian, to those that seem to know, and thats not me, the lozenge in the kit is too bright and probably the wrong shades, but, as i cant afford to spend the same again on lozenge as I did for the kit, it will have to do ! so, the decal has been laid down over a pure black base coat and then sealed in with matt varnish with a tiny drop of black in it. tips.............. dont do it ! joking aside, its not an easy kit, the fuselage sides are a sod to get together and to clean up the seam, and the tail plane is very fragile to say the least. The engine nacelles are crammed full of bits so its essential that they are all correct else none of it will fit together... go on, be brave, you know you want to build it !

Hi Guys Hopefully are attatched some images of my current trauma, Rodens Staaken. To say its been slow going is an understatement but we all know how Roden love there detail ! Apologies for the quality of photo's but photography has never been my strong point, and for the state of my work bench (but I bet you can almost smell it ! ) cheers jono

Hi John, No easy answer to this one, its anything from a makeshift jig made of paint pots and foam, or commercial jigs that can be bought from the likes of aeroclub. I dont use either, but just work on getting the interplane struts on the fuselage in the right place and using them as a key for everything else. So, for example, you have a top wing with mounting points for the struts on the underside. These are say 20mm apart, this means u just need to ensure that the first strut you fix is 10mm at the top, from the centre line of the fusealage, this is not as difficult as it sounds and is alot easier if you are starting with a vertical strut. The struts just need to be the correct distance apart all round, and that measurement is in the mounting points on the underside of the wing................... good luck !

Have you decided what scheme it will be ?

Hi Guys Funny how Voss has almost been overlooked in historical terms until fairly recently and Richthofen always in the forefront. The more you read the more it would seem that the two were completely different characters yet both had a great skill in achieving what had to be done during that period. From what I can gather, and please correct me if i am wrong!, Voss was the more capable pilot, and the Dr1 probably suited his flying style far better than it did Richthofens. Although the "Red Baron" is always associated with the Triplane, the majority of his kills were in Albatross fighters, the DIII and the DV, and I have always had the impression that he was a great hunter rather than a great flyer. I know the two have to go hand in hand somewhere along the line and he must have had plenty of ability to claim his 80 kills, but somehow I have always felt that Verner Voss 's contribution has been a bit neglected in historical terms

can i have my respect in a wheel barrow please the straight jacket was removed last month and the therapy is working well

and a great reference page http://www.seawings.co.uk/F2Amangal.htm

It can be done ! but trust me on this, cut the lower wing in half and build a spar , saves so much grief later on.........good luck !!!!!

Hi Guys Just picked this up today from SBX, two DR1's with all the trimmings and markings for 6 aircraft £20... that has to be a bargain does it not ?

Hi guys To me this has come out of the blue but managed to get one from the ever helpful David at SBX models in Ipswich, It looks great ! short run injection, not sure who its tooled by but the instructions look just like classic airframes.......the Staaken has been put to one side for a moment, I needed a break anyway ! http://www.hannants.co.uk/search/?FULL=FYL48001

Hi, I used to use 0.2mm copper wire for 1/48th scale rigging. that was a Lion Roar product and I think they went down to 0.1mm. I have to say that I have become a lycra thread convert though, the more you stretch, the thinner it gets, and it survives being bashed and moved with no problem at all hope thats of some help !!!! btw, I always paint my rigging wires a dark metalic shade of some description, just seems to give them some definition jono

Well, I know this reply is a month late and your projects are probably near completion, BUT attatched is a link to an excellent french website where a 162 amongst others is being fully restored, alot of pictures, alot of detail, well worth a look either way http://memorial.flight.free.fr/ jono

Only a few days and its not complete ? tut tut tut, not trying hard enough me thinks....quit playing with the keyring and cut some plastic (says he who has not actually finished anything this year yet) one Brisfish, about 8 weeks with lots of coffee

Flying tonight................that did amuse me somewhat.... "Infamy, Infamy, they've all got it in for me" the quotes are endless, should we curtail this frivolous thread or start dragging out the Spike Milligan, Tommy Cooper one liners ? "he walked with a pronounced limp....... L-I-M-P , pronounced, limp" were we talking about an Eduard Bristol Fighter at some point ?

ooohh its turned into a Carry On film Carry On Britmodeller........ can I be Sid James ?

After market ? Profipak ? trust me, there is nothing in that box that you can add, its an awesome creation from Eduard, as for pitfalls, none really, its a tightfit all round and the only real headscratching moment is mounting the bottom wing in those tiny struts, bit of time spent there makes it all fit together nice and square. I have built the Brisfish version and currently have the Crocodile waiting for that moment when I want to paint red and white squares !

ooohh, well done ! I have yet to finish one and still have one hidden under my desk, you are right, its a sod ! How did you manage to get the nose on and true ? to be honest, thats whats been putting me off starting mine, which is a shame as there is a great engine in the kit just waiting to be exposed......great build

Hi Guys Need some help, just picked up the Academy MK.XIV spitfire purely because it carries markings for CF-GMZ, a Canadian air racing spitfire from the 40's. Now, I am used to doing WW1 stuff, and everything from that era is simply a shade of dope or wood ! so my question is , what colour would the fuselage be, was it bare metal ? or painted metal ? I was planning to use Alclad on it but am totally confused as to what colour of that would be appropriate for this particular mk of spitfire. On another note regarding Alclad, anyone know if I can future over it for decals ? or does Alclad take decals without too much fuss ? Any input appreciated before I wander back to string and fabric cheers jono

Is the current (or recent) Airfix release not the Italeri/ESCI tooling also ?